the weather today was epic
while there was no time for an epic ride
so I filled my time with a short urban spin
the warm temperatures and the slushy obstacles combined to give create a playfulness
the slow gearing of the surly karate monkey works best on dirt
much too slow to reach for the glory of racing the cars
it is more about working the flow
with the slow gearing and the back to back cars it is like riding in and out of a parking lot
which you may not realize can be more dangerous than riding on the road with moving traffic
the bumper to bumper cars stretching for blocks created its own tight weave of singletrack
the bumpers and the side view mirrors causing a forever re-evaluation of the path
bar width dictates the path as well as the distance between cars and between bumpers
the streets still showed some snowy remains of the actual winter days we got to enjoy last week
but the snow has been pushed by shovels and melted my sun and rain
ice and slush remain
making for some unprecitable obstacles on the edge of the roads
offering the center line as being a better choice than the right of the right hand lane
parked cars pulling out
turning cars
cars making aggressive u-turns to escape the gridlock ahead
all variables changing and interchanging all the while
the warm temperatures did not arrive unexpected
this is a pretty standard patern for the winter in dc
s
I dip onto the sidewalk and then jump back into the street off the curb
I wheelie over a boulder of snow finding pleasure and relief when it crushes under the rear wheel
that task of breaking up the slush boulders is reatead
each time offering that same childish pleasure
my pace is slow
but the pace of the cars is more slow
there is no cat and mouse
there is no tortise and hare
just me spinning that small gearing past the line of red tail lights
trying to work the flow
taking lights when they come to me
trying to make the lights when offered to me
more concerned with things being safe and clear than red or green
the use of the sidewalk was as much for fun as function
but each trip to the sidewalk included safe entrance and safe exit
with respect to the space and safety of any and all pedestrians
there were other cyclists on the road
the camera was in the pack and stayed in the pack
as there are times for riding and there are times for taking pictures
this was a time for riding
worked a short loop around town
pretty much shooting across town towards Union Station
wrap around a few parks
then spin it around at Lincoln Park
not a long ride by any stretch of the imagination
but fun just the same
on the way back traffic was such that if forced me to cut through one urban park then another
people were outside enjoying that false sense of spring
dogs were skidding about in the mud
runners, joggers, and bikers were getting in a workout outside the gym
worked the hill on 15th along side of malcom x park
the bumper to bumper line of cars with brake lights beaming bright red I felt fast
as the cars were moving slow
the hill did not agree with my winter legs
but with spring approaching I might want to start going up hills instead of around them
as races at greenbrier and lodi farms are not far away
got home to a house full of energy
the wife was cooking dinner
the boys were dismantling the couch... creating some sort of hidden path that could only be seen through a child's eyes
there was dinner and mazes
coloring with crayons
and of course wrestling
the boys love to wrestle with me
after more mazes with crayons and another drawing of the desert we moved upstairs
a curious george show on WETA was good leverage to accelerate the ready for bed process
teeth were brushed
nails were clipped
hands and faces were washed
all before putting on pjs and then settling down in front of a show waiting on the DVR
democracy does not always work with kids
dean objected to grant and I agreeing on the WETA curious george
but he settled in fast enough
it is good for kids to slow it down with some age appropriate
the leverage of the half hour show also got the boys to bring all the cushions back to the couch
some assembly required by an adult may be involved
which brings me to the present time
a little time on the blog
maybe I will play with some images while the boys watch curious george run about the amusement park
it is amusing
but I am sure I can catch it at a later time
we tried some stuff on the computer
but the television can have less commercials than the computer
and the kids had no patience for the download times
not to mention it is hard to work the laptop with a monkey on each knee
grant definitely would have watched that dancing cat for another hour or three
dean enjoyed it
but quickly found it repetitive
while there was no time for an epic ride
so I filled my time with a short urban spin
the warm temperatures and the slushy obstacles combined to give create a playfulness
the slow gearing of the surly karate monkey works best on dirt
much too slow to reach for the glory of racing the cars
it is more about working the flow
with the slow gearing and the back to back cars it is like riding in and out of a parking lot
which you may not realize can be more dangerous than riding on the road with moving traffic
the bumper to bumper cars stretching for blocks created its own tight weave of singletrack
the bumpers and the side view mirrors causing a forever re-evaluation of the path
bar width dictates the path as well as the distance between cars and between bumpers
the streets still showed some snowy remains of the actual winter days we got to enjoy last week
but the snow has been pushed by shovels and melted my sun and rain
ice and slush remain
making for some unprecitable obstacles on the edge of the roads
offering the center line as being a better choice than the right of the right hand lane
parked cars pulling out
turning cars
cars making aggressive u-turns to escape the gridlock ahead
all variables changing and interchanging all the while
the warm temperatures did not arrive unexpected
this is a pretty standard patern for the winter in dc
s
I dip onto the sidewalk and then jump back into the street off the curb
I wheelie over a boulder of snow finding pleasure and relief when it crushes under the rear wheel
that task of breaking up the slush boulders is reatead
each time offering that same childish pleasure
my pace is slow
but the pace of the cars is more slow
there is no cat and mouse
there is no tortise and hare
just me spinning that small gearing past the line of red tail lights
trying to work the flow
taking lights when they come to me
trying to make the lights when offered to me
more concerned with things being safe and clear than red or green
the use of the sidewalk was as much for fun as function
but each trip to the sidewalk included safe entrance and safe exit
with respect to the space and safety of any and all pedestrians
there were other cyclists on the road
the camera was in the pack and stayed in the pack
as there are times for riding and there are times for taking pictures
this was a time for riding
worked a short loop around town
pretty much shooting across town towards Union Station
wrap around a few parks
then spin it around at Lincoln Park
not a long ride by any stretch of the imagination
but fun just the same
on the way back traffic was such that if forced me to cut through one urban park then another
people were outside enjoying that false sense of spring
dogs were skidding about in the mud
runners, joggers, and bikers were getting in a workout outside the gym
worked the hill on 15th along side of malcom x park
the bumper to bumper line of cars with brake lights beaming bright red I felt fast
as the cars were moving slow
the hill did not agree with my winter legs
but with spring approaching I might want to start going up hills instead of around them
as races at greenbrier and lodi farms are not far away
got home to a house full of energy
the wife was cooking dinner
the boys were dismantling the couch... creating some sort of hidden path that could only be seen through a child's eyes
there was dinner and mazes
coloring with crayons
and of course wrestling
the boys love to wrestle with me
after more mazes with crayons and another drawing of the desert we moved upstairs
a curious george show on WETA was good leverage to accelerate the ready for bed process
teeth were brushed
nails were clipped
hands and faces were washed
all before putting on pjs and then settling down in front of a show waiting on the DVR
democracy does not always work with kids
dean objected to grant and I agreeing on the WETA curious george
but he settled in fast enough
it is good for kids to slow it down with some age appropriate
the leverage of the half hour show also got the boys to bring all the cushions back to the couch
some assembly required by an adult may be involved
which brings me to the present time
a little time on the blog
maybe I will play with some images while the boys watch curious george run about the amusement park
it is amusing
but I am sure I can catch it at a later time
we tried some stuff on the computer
but the television can have less commercials than the computer
and the kids had no patience for the download times
not to mention it is hard to work the laptop with a monkey on each knee
grant definitely would have watched that dancing cat for another hour or three
dean enjoyed it
but quickly found it repetitive